The agreement was signed after two years of negotiation, head of the provincial mining and energy service T Syakur said. He added that as the winner of the tender for the Seulawah Geothermal project, PGE is required to form a partnership with PDPA to build and operate the geothermal power plant (PLTP) in Seulawah Agam.

He said the next step is PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy and PDPA would establish a joint venture company to be called PT Geothermal Energy Seulawah (PT. GES) to implement the project.

Pertamina as the capital provider will have a 75 percent share with PDPA holding the remaining 25 percent. The PDPA will pay for the share with a grant from KfW, a German government-owned development bank based in Frankfurt.

Seulawah Agam concession, in the regency of Aceh Besar, around 50 km southeast of Banda Aceh, is estimated to have a geothermal reserve equivalent to 165 MW.